Christina Grillo, UI/UX Designer at bowmo

At bowmo we are all about people to our very core. From the life changing features of our software, to evolving the functionality and efficiencies of the Human Capital Industry, to celebrating our own employees — it is a bowmo value to elevate the people around us and promote their success in their centers of excellence. To expand this mindset, every month one bowmo’ite will take the spotlight on our company page and social platforms. Get to know bowmo because we want to get to know you.

1. What is your professional background?

I majored in American Studies with concentration in Media and Mass Culture at Wesleyan. I secured my I worked on a film project called “ Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis – Gates “- The Graphics Producer was out and we needed to get some work already on a tight deadline done. I was the only other person on the team that understood and could use Photoshop and so I stepped in and worked on fulfilling the needs of the project. I quickly figured that I wanted to focus on a Film and Media management program, so I took design classes, UI/ UX and related courses and decided to become a professional at this thing that intrigued me so much. I secured my Masters in Spring 2017 at the New School here in NYC.

a. Tell us about your experience as a job candidate.

My recent experience as a candidate… In a word, ‘rough.’ I graduated at the tail end of the “Great Recession” for my generation; so, a lot of the work opportunities that my sister and my parents have had, were not available to me. You end up submitting hundreds of applications and hearing nothing back. Or you get contacted about job opportunities that are not related to your field at all. I cannot tell you how many times I have been contacted for jobs that are not relevant to me or what I do. Hopefully bowmo will help fix this process.

b. Tell us about your experience as a Hiring Manager.

I have yet to be a Hiring Manager, but here at bowmo, I have been part of a Graphic talent recruitment and interviewing team. This being a Tech startup with a smaller team, the process is very efficient, but this is not the case for companies with hundreds of employees, dozens of recruiters and hiring managers. We know they are relying on old systems and technology that sometimes fails to deliver efficiency and results. This is what makes bowmo so exciting. We are delivering to the recruiters who are our bowmo SaaS users, speed, efficiency, accurately matched candidates across three platforms: desktop, mobile (iOS and Android). Designing to make their lives easier is a feature of my work as a UI/UX designer so in a way I am in fact a hiring manager with the thousands of managers and recruiters that will benefit from using bowmo.

2. How did you become introduced to bowmo, Inc. and what do you do here?

Lina M. who is bowmo’s Product Manager reached out to me on LinkedIn to make me aware of the search. I applied and I met with some members of the management team and for me, it felt right. I also immediately liked bowmo, the product functionality, and what I learned about the user research. My job is part artist, psychologist and strategist. I work with Customer Success to listen, learn and stay alert and aware of what current customers are experiencing and what the design effect is on each of them using bowmo. I am impacting mobile and web driven platform use and so I use Photoshop as my all in one, Adobe Experience Design for wireframing and photo types to show small animations. bowmo is complicated software with lots of data so it saves me lots of time. I also use a lot of ot grid paper and Post -It Notes … those are my staple tools for contribution to constantly improving bowmo as a staple tool for recruiters. I use technology driven and offline tools to deliver.

3. Who are your greatest influencers?

My greatest influencer are my Mom and Dad. Mom became Senior Vice President in male dominated industry of Real Estate Development. My Dad. He taught me hustle. He dropped out of college four times and finally made it to Harvard Law school and took most difficult classes. Never giving up, challenging yourself and having a focused perspective is what I learned from them.

4. What are your key values?

Honesty and transparency. These are the best compass of the right thing to do and they keep you out of trouble. I say, ‘learn the rules before you break them.’ Reference points give work more meaning even if you decide to throw them out the window, it is important to know the rules.

5. How do you measure success?

I do something that I call “The Wake-Up test.” I ask myself, ‘Am I content with what I am doing today?’ I ask myself that question early on in a project and if I am not happy with it then I realize that I as a Designer have not solved the problem.

6. What motivates you?

Creativity and the constant drive to create something effective and tangible. The knowledge that I am responsible for how someone experience something. With great power comes great responsibility. Also having passion projects are key. I know that they give alternate and extra knowledge and experience, Luck favors the prepared. Empathy for others and the user keeps me motivated. Depending on what kind of company you are in, accessing users and doing user research and knowing not just how they use applications but how it impacts their lives motivates me.

7. What are your personal passions / hobbies?

One great hobby of mine is painting with acrylics with canvas. I tend to render art based on emotions and food. From both you get lots of texture and color …Painting does not have any rules outside of the fine art. Food and wine are a passion too. I love watching Barefoot Contessa’s host, Ina Garten. I have been cooking since I was 8 years old. I do weekly meal preps. Count on me for chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. I am currently reading the Wine Bible by Karen Mac Neil– everything you need to know about wine is there.

8. What is one thing someone would never guess about you?

I am quite the handywoman. People make assumptions about what I can do. They are wring assumptions because I am perceived as what would be “a girly- girl.” I don’t have to call the super in my building to get things fixed very often. I am good for figuring it out on my own.

9. What do you value most in bowmo?

We are not just cogs in the machine here. We value the work that others do and understand that we all operate together. Valuing the work others do is integral and informs us in enhancing the software and effective data science that we deliver to our users each day at bowmo.

10. What do you think bowmo values most in you?

I think it is my creativity and drive — it makes the product more valuable and my team trust me. I am open -minded and can work cross category from our Developers, to Product Management, to Marketing and I am flexible in contributing to the whole of those areas.

11. Career advice for others in the Industry?

Network, network, network! Networking is key in Tech and the creative area of technology.
Talk to users and use the products and services you are designing for wherever you can.
Build your network, ask questions, grow in confidence and execute.